In Tehran, Iran, March 8, 2026, a fire breaks out at the Shahran oil depot after a US-Israeli attack, disabling numerous fuel tankers and vehicles in the area.
Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images
Asia-Pacific markets pared losses after Monday’s selloff as oil prices eased after Saudi Arabia reportedly provided more oil to the market.
According to a Bloomberg report, Saudi Arabia has delivered about 4.6 million barrels via pipeline to Yanbu in the Red Sea.
Oil prices fell on this news. brent futures It rose 16.13% to trade at $107.71 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil Futures It rose 13.74% to 103.47.
Both benchmarks were previously near $120 per barrel. The surge came as major Middle East oil producers including Kuwait, Iran and the United Arab Emirates cut production following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Korean Kospi It triggered a circuit breaker for the second time in four sessions on Monday, leading to a broad regional decline as oil prices approached $120 a barrel for the first time since 2022.
The index plunged more than 8% and trading was halted for 20 minutes starting at 10:31 a.m. local time. The index last traded down 5.96% to close at 5,251.87.
Major Samsung Electronics fell 7.81%, and semiconductor giant SK Hynix fell 9.52%.
The circuit breaker was triggered last week when the benchmark fell more than 12% on Wednesday, its worst single-day decline.
South Korea’s ruling party lawmaker Kim Young-bae reportedly said that the country’s semiconductor industry is concerned that the Iran conflict will lead to higher energy costs and prices.
Kim told Reuters that semiconductor production could be disrupted if materials such as helium cannot be secured from the Middle East.
Japanese Nikkei Stock Average fell 5.2% to 52,728.72, falling below the 53,000 mark for the first time since February 6, while TOPIX fell 3.8% to close at 3,575.84.
SoftBank Group Corp. fell 9.81%, making it one of the worst losers in the index. Advantest and laser tech They also decreased by more than 11% and 8%, respectively.
Losses narrowed in the Chinese market, but in Hong Kong Hang Seng Index Down 1.33% in the last hour of trading, mainland China’s CSI300 index fell 0.97% to close at 4,615.46.
australian S&P/ASX 200 After paring earlier losses, the stock fell 2.85% to close at 8,599.
However, US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that a rise in “short-term oil prices” is a “very small price” for defeating Iran’s nuclear threat.
“Only a fool would think otherwise!” Trump added.
U.S. stock futures also fell due to the rise in oil prices, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropping more than 800 points, or 1.75%.
S&P 500 futures fell 1.59% and Nasdaq 100 futures fell 1.6%.
—CNBC’s Spencer Kimball contributed to this report.
